DETAILS OF THE KNEE JOINT

The objective was to make functional and good looking braces from hardware store items. The rails are of 1/8"x3/4" aluminum and although light, seem adequately strong, so far, for light use. The swivels were cut from 1/8"x1" stock, rounded and thinned with a bandsaw and belt sander. The bands are 1/16"x2" aluminum. To get the desired "look" the joints were laminated from several pieces, and assembled with 10-32 machine screws. The load was too great for these screws with their small diameter and countersunk head cutting into the aluminum and loosining the joints, so they were replaced with 3/8-24 set screws (not shown) to increase the bearing surface while maintaining a low profile but otherwise high-tech look. It was deemed too difficult to manufacture (or find) a rectangular sliding lock, which otherwise could have worked with this design. The joint could also have been notched with a spring loaded mechanism for locking the knees, but given the huge amount of tedious work to get this far, such a device was also deemed too difficult to manufacture. So the braces are simply locked by inserting screws into the joint as can be clearly (we hope) seen in the photos. These screws were also upsized from those shown for the same reason as already stated, and are either set screws for a clean look, or cap screws when it is desired to readily remove them by hand. Getting all the angles and bends right, is a whole 'nother story. Unless you really like working in your shop, we recommend buying a real pair, in spite of the otherwise high cost. There just ain't no easy way if the look is important! You could, however, just use the 1/8"x3/4" (or larger) aluminum in one long piece, folded over at the foot, molded to the shape of your leg, and fastened with multiple leather straps. The brace will have to be fastened to your foot or shoe in some way to keep it from sliding down yor leg.